Changes
I find it amazing that SCA rapier has morphed so much in just the short time that I have been participating. "Short time" being a relative term, I started about 10ish years ago. And that is a long time to do anything, but a short time compared to how long some people have been playing.
The change from epee to heavy rapier has been the biggest and most traumatic change, at least for me, but lots of little things have changed as well.
And now I feel the whole game is shifting again. Sadly, it is orienting itself away from the things that I enjoy about it. The environment is moving away from being a competitive community that values achievement and is couched in a sort of warrior community, towards one that focuses on A&S and cut and thrust.
One might say that if I don't like the culture, then I should endeavor to change it. The problem is, I don't think that I can. I can't change how people want to spend their time. The fact is, gaining knowledge is much easier than applying it. And there is more physical pain involved in being an athelete than in being a scholar. So people are naturally gravitating towards activities that are easier and less painful. And I don't blame them, pain sucks.
C'este la vie, I guess.